This invention relates generally to the art of handling and testing fluid specimens and more particularly to a cup which can be used to receive, transport and store a fluid specimen as well as to provide indications of characteristics of the fluid specimen.
Fluid specimens, particularly body fluids such as blood, spinal fluid and urine, are normally collected and stored in containers, vials or cups, with some having sealable lids. When it is desired to run tests on liquid, or fluid specimens contained in the cups, the lids thereof are normally punctured or removed and specimen samples are taken out of the cups and transferred to test apparatus. A difficulty with prior-art cups is that when the lids thereof are removed or punctured specimen samples may become contaminated or fluid can easily escape from the cups and thereby contaminate an operator as well as surrounding equipment. Furthermore, with the caps removed, spillage and loss of entire specimens commonly occurs. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a specimen cup for collecting, transporting and storing a fluid specimen with which tests on the contained fluid specimen can be run without removing a lid thereof.
At least one body fluid sample collection tube has been suggested by Nugent in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,944 in which a tube has a plurality of bores for allowing passage of a sample in the tube to impregnate adjacent dry chemistry patches. A plastic film wrap is pre-shrunk over the tube and the patches so as not to allow specimen fluids to escape beyond the patches. When a specimen is introduced into the collection tube of this invention a portion of the specimen passes immediately through the bores and impregnates simultaneously and immediately the plurality of patches so that an indication can be made immediately of a suspected condition or conditions for which the testing is taking place. A difficulty with this system is that it is usually not desirable to immediately test collected body fluids when they are first placed in a specimen cup. In this regard, some chemical patches, pads or test strips are time sensitive and do not, therefore, retain appropriate test colors over long periods of time. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide such a sealed analytical specimen cup wherein chemical test strips can be selectively activated with a fluid specimen contained therein only when a user desires such activation.
In the past, dry chemical test strips have been introduced into urine samples or specimens by dropping them therein. Such a procedure often contaminates a fluid specimen itself, thereby adversely affecting further tests run on the fluid specimen. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an analytical specimen cup with which a chemical test strip can be introduced into a fluid specimen without fear of contaminating the fluid specimen.
Similarly, such chemical test strips have been developed to provide visual indications of quantitative properties of a specimen fluid such as: pH, protein, glucose, ketone, bilirubin, blood, urobilinogen, and many other body fluid components. Changes in color of a chemical test strip are indicative of these characteristics of fluid specimens and therefore provide a user with information as to what, if any, further testing may be required. Usually, an operator, user, or other person collecting a fluid specimen is not someone who will "read" or analyze an initial chemical test strip to determine what, if any, further tests are necessary. However, if a chemical test strip has been exposed too long to a fluid specimen, it is sometimes difficult for a user, or operator, to accurately read the test strip thereby making determinations for further tests impossible. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an analytical specimen cup including a chemical test strip which is selectively exposed to a fluid specimen contained in the cup only upon demand by an appropriate user.